The present invention relates to a reinforced container, erected from a unitary paperboard blank, for the holding, stacking and transporting of items such as agricultural produce. In particular, the present invention relates to a reinforced container having a beam or other rigid structure that extends longitudinally across the upper portion of the container and is supported by the container""s side walls.
Corrugated paperboard is typically used in many different applications, for example, to form containers, boxes, cartons, or dividers for holding, storing, stacking or shipping various items such as agricultural produce.
Typically, such containers have a bottom and four side walls, and are formed from a blank scored with score lines or cut lines. The blanks are most often formed by automated machines in a continuous in-line process involving cutting, scoring and molding continuous sheets of paperboard. The paperboard is then folded along the score lines or cut lines to form a container. The blanks may be folded into a container by an automated machine or by a consumer. A removable top may be placed securely onto the container, although it is not required for normal usage, such as shipping, stacking or displaying.
During use, containers are often stacked on top of one another, causing vertical stress on the containers in the stack. In these circumstances, it is possible that insufficient strength of the container""s bottom or removable top causes the bottom or top to bow under the pressure of stacking. Thus, containers must have sufficient strength to withstand the wear and tear of constant shipping and stacking, particularly to avoid damage to the produce contained therein. To remedy this, the erected paperboard containers are sometimes reinforced with additional structures to better protect the items held within. Such reinforcement structures often take the form of a latticework of beams and supports that are inserted within the container. These supports, however, limit the space of the interior of the container and require excessive amounts of additional material. Other reinforcement structures take the form of beams or ridges that are integrally formed to the container""s side or bottom walls, or to an interior lining. These reinforcements similarly impede the containers lateral space and are not easily removed when the container is filled.
Other reinforced containers have beams or other rigid structures that extend over the upper portion of the container. This is particularly important in containers that are especially short and wide, wherein the removable top bears an undue amount of stress. However, upper portion reinforcements are usually bonded to the lid and do not come in significant contact with the side walls, lessening the strength of the container""s reinforcement system.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a paperboard container with a reinforcement structure that does not unduly impede the container""s volume, is easily removable, yet supported by the side walls of the container for additional reinforcement.
The present invention comprises a container having a reinforcing beam or other rigid structure that extends longitudinally across the upper portion of the box and is supported by the packages side walls, increasing the strength of the box while being easily removable to improve the display and access of the items held within the container.
The container may be any corrugated box of the type often used for transporting food items, with a bottom side, two opposing side walls, two opposing end walls and a removable lid. A cross beam or other rigid structure extends longitudinally across the upper portions of the container and is supported by the two opposing side walls.
One embodiment of the invention includes a cross beam constructed of any rigid material such as wood, corrugated paper, paper wound posts, plastic metal or a composite material, placed laterally across the container and secured by die cut recesses in the top edges of the opposing side walls of the container. The container""s side walls may contain multiple die cut recesses, and as a result, the container may have more than one cross beam. Additionally, the cross beam may be affixed to the container""s removable lid.
The beam or other rigid structure may be various shapes and sizes to provide maximum use of the container""s interior space. In one embodiment, the beam has a substantially round shape with a flat top surface for contacting an inner surface of the removable lid, and a bottom surface having a longitudinal depression extending the length of the beam, structurally strengthening the beam.
Other embodiments include beams or other rigid structures with flat extensions extending out of the beam""s top surface. The extensions rest on the top side of the container""s two opposing side walls. In this embodiment, the container is not required to have die cut recesses.
Other objects, embodiments, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent when the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention is considered in conjunction with the annexed drawings, which should be construed in an illustrative and not limiting sense.